Page 77 of Lifeline

“Yes, Jesus, I do. Happy?”

“And you’re mad at him.”

“Furious. Betrayed.”

“Do you want to trust him again?”

“I…yeah, I guess I do.”

“And do you want to work with him to do that? Because we can sit here and say that getting trust back is a one-way street, but it’s not. He has to take the steps, but you have to be willing to accept his steps; you have to see the work he’s putting in. Otherwise, all you’re doing is torturing him and yourself. So I ask again, do you want to work with him to get your trust in him back?”

I scowled, knowing he was going to bully it out of me anyway. “Yes.”

“There you go,” he said with a wiggle of his hands.

“Oh, it’s that easy,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

“Easy? Fuck no, that shit is going to be hard as hell. Simple? Yeah, it is that simple, and when you stop feeling sorry for yourself, you’ll see it,” he said, and when I glared, he smirked. “Well, you are. He didn’t even say much about you, lucky you.”

I sighed. “You and I do not a team make, even if you are right about me and…about his and my problems.”

“I am right,” he said easily. “And yeah, he’s not in for an easy road. But if he cares about us like I think he does, which is more than he realizes, then he’s going to put in the work to get that trust back.”

“Not that easy,” a croaky voice answered, and I whirled around so fast my leg got tangled in the chair and sent me sprawling to the ground.

“That’s about right,” Aidan said in a soft voice and with a chuckle.

“Jesus, and to think he tried to hem and haw in admitting he loves you,” Reno muttered, and I felt my already warming face grow even hotter.

“W-what?” Aidan asked in a faint voice, clearing his throat roughly.

“You heard me, oh, and to spare anyone any bullshit, you’re also in love with him. There, saved you guys at least twenty minutes, if not more,” Reno said, and I saw he was shuffling to the edge of the bed to stand up with a wince. “Woof, that feels like⁠—”

“Like you got smacked around by Mother Nature on a bender?”

“Yeah actually. She’s a mean drunk.”

Aidan chuckled softly. “Clearly.”

I got to my feet as Reno shuffled over and squeezed Aidan’s hand. “I’m going to say something, and you’re going to listen. And you’re not going to say anything back, and I’m going to go hunt down the pisser because they took out my catheter earlier and all that apple juice is going through me.”

“Catheter,” Aidan blinked and picked up his blanket, only for Reno to push it back down.

“You’ve got one, no need to check. Seeing your dick in the shower sometimes is enough for me, thanks,” he said. “Are you listening?”

“Sure,” Aidan said, and though he blinked slowly, his eyes were alert and his voice was getting clearer with every syllable.

“Good. First off, you’re an idiot for doing all that to save me, but from what I heard, you’re the only reason I’m still around to torment Mika here for several more years,” Reno said, his expression softening. “So thank you. On my behalf, of course, but also for my brother. One day we might have to live without the other walking this earth, but I’d like to wait until old age makes that happen.”

“And on behalf of Jake,” Aidan said, and I watched Reno’s eyes narrow.

“Which is the perfect segue for me to say you’re a rotten fuck for telling our business to someone else,” Reno snapped, and Aidan’s eyes widened, looking at me. “No, no, don’t look at him, you look at me, there ya go. You betrayed my trust; you told my personal business, and that of the people I think of as family. You fucked up royally, especially because Bryce fucking Anderson? Christ of all the people to peddle our information to, Bryce?”

I gasped. “That’s that fucking⁠—”

“Regulatory board member,” Reno said with disdain. “Who’s had a giant hate boner for Xander for almost a decade, and is president of the committee, I might remind you. He’s never been able to get Xander for anything.”

“Oh,” Aidan said as the weight of it all came down on him.